It was the slap that was heard around the world – Will Smith angrily stormed onto the stage and physically accosted comedian Chris Rock, who had just made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oscars.
Except in the USA, the slap wasn’t heard at all.
Neither was any of the angry shouting from Smith that followed, nor Rock’s awkward attempts to get on with the show.
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You can re-familiarise yourself with the whole incident in this video:
American viewers of the show will have noticed that as Smith made his way up onto the stage, the volume cut out.
That meant that the whole incident might have lost a certain context, particularly the bit in which Smith told Rock – in no uncertain terms – not to talk about Pinkett Smith, and Rock said that Smith ‘smacked the s*** out’ of him.
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Even though the incident occurred late enough at night for swearing on the East Coast, it wasn’t quite yet the cut-off point on the West.
Had the broadcast continued uncensored, it could have been subject to federal rules prohibiting ‘obscene, indecent and profane content from being broadcast on the radio or TV’, according to the Washington Post.
Anything that is considered ‘obscene’ is banned 24-hours a day, whereas ‘indecent’ or ‘profane’ stuff is not permitted between 6:00am and 10:00pm when ‘there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience’, says the Federal Communications Commission.
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Whilst fines are unusual, the threat of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars could be enough for broadcasters to be extra-vigilant.
So, we can now see why the broadcast was silenced in the USA, whereas other countries around the world carried the full incident, swearing and all.
For his part, Smith has since apologised for his actions, and to Rock.
In a statement on Instagram, Smith wrote: “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior [sic] at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.
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“Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris."
“I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.
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“There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world.
“I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family.
“I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.”
He concluded: “I am a work in progress.”
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Tom Wood